Photoionization of Co+^{+} and electron-impact excitation of Co2+^{2+} using the Dirac R-matrix method

Modelling of massive stars and supernovae (SNe) plays a crucial role in understanding galaxies. From this modelling we can derive fundamental constraints on stellar evolution, mass-loss processes, mixing, and the products of nucleosynthesis. Proper account must be taken of all important processes that populate and depopulate the levels (collisional excitation, de-excitation, ionization, recombination, photoionization, bound-bound processes). For the analysis of Type Ia SNe and core collapse SNe (Types Ib, Ic and II) Fe group elements are particularly important. Unfortunately little data is currently available and most noticeably absent are the photoionization cross-sections for the Fe-peaks which have high abundances in SNe. Important interactions for both photoionization and electron-impact excitation are calculated using the relativistic Dirac Atomic $R$-matrix Codes (DARC) for low ionization stages of cobalt. All results are calculated up to photon energies of 45 eV and electron energies up to 20 eV. The wavefunction representation of Co III has been generated using GRASP0 by including the dominant 3d$^7$, 3d$^6$[4s, 4p], 3p$^4$3d$^9$ and 3p$^6$3d$^9$ configurations, resulting in 292 fine structure levels. Electron-impact collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths across a wide range of astrophysically relevant temperatures are computed for Co III. In addition, statistically weighted level-resolved ground and metastable photoionization cross-sections are presented for Co II and compared directly with existing work.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures and 4 table

mHealth: A Mediating Tool for Community Health Workers’ Transformation in Armed Conflict Zones

Communities affected by armed conflict are striving to provide access to effective healthcare services in countries like Nigeria, where there exists a fragile healthcare system with an acute deficit of manpower and resources. This fragility has a negative impact on child health service delivery. mHealth is considered an excellent platform for enhancing/transforming the activities of community health workers (CHWs) in the delivery of effective health services. This paper aims to explore how mHealth implementation mediates and transforms the activities of CHWs in an armed conflict setting using activity theory as a lens. An interpretive research methodology was used, and the method of data collection was done mainly by participatory observations and interviews. The findings show that the introduction of an mHealth tool can transform the activities of CHWs in various ways. The study contributes to information systems research by broadening our understanding of the implementation of mHealth in armed conflict settings

The Ubiquitous 'c': from the Stefan-Boltzmann Law to Quantum Information

I discuss various aspects of the role of the conformal anomaly number c in 2- and 1+1-dimensional critical behaviour: its appearance as the analogue of Stefan's constant, its fundamental role in conformal field theory, in the classification of 2d universality classes, and as a measure of quantum entanglement, among other topics.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Boltzmann Medal Lecture, Statphys24, Cairns 2010. v3: minor revision

Collaborative Learning Space in Academic Libraries and Its Effects on Reference Services and User Expectations in an Academic Archival Setting

This paper examines the connections between academic libraries that have created collaborative learning commons spaces and their partner archives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with reference librarians and archivists from three large public universities, examining the institutions' user services, policies, and assessment measures and how they have adapted to changes in their users and their users' expectations. The study showed that librarians at academic libraries had utilized more assessment measures in order to implement and assess changes to their user services than the archivists at the archives at the same academic institution. These assessment measures used by libraries showed that the shift to a collaborative learning environment had been received positively by users and staff. Archivists were unable to report if this shift had changed their own users' expectations; however, they felt that user expectations would change, though they were unsure what that meant for the future of their user services

The Cover Crop Seed Industry: An Indiana Case Study

Winter cover crops are plants used to protect soils during the period between the harvest and establishment of cash crops such as corn and soybeans, effectively providing farm fields with perennial cover. The total cost of cover crops varies considerably from site to site and year to year, yet the single costliest aspect of using cover crops is the cost of seed. Seed cost also tends to be the most volatile component of the cost of cover crop use, subject to complex supply dynamics associated with producing viable seed, storage capacity, and unpredictable regional demand. We conducted a survey of seed dealers who sell cover crop seeds using the state of Indiana as a case study. The majority of the respondents believe that sales for cover crop seeds over the next five years in Indiana will increase. In response to this expected increased demand, seed dealers noted they intend to (in no particular order): increase contracted cover crop seed production and invest in seed handling and storage capacity; increase direct interaction with farmers; become more active with workshops and demonstration field days; and/or create marketing materials that specifically promote the soil health benefits of cover crops. The top three factors seed dealers believed would improve the Indiana cover crop seed market the most were: (1) financial incentives for cover crop use; (2) improved customer knowledge of cover crop management; and tied for (3) reduced seed production costs, and broader support of cover crop usage from commodity groups. The top three topics of publicly funded research most useful to the cover crop industry were: (1) understanding factors that influence farmer cover crop adoption; (2) cover crop impact on field profitability; and (3) understanding long-term soil benefits of cover crops. Seed dealers play a unique role in conservation practices such as cover crops, not just because they are often trusted facilitators of information and guidance, but also because their business actions strongly influence available conservation opportunities, management options, and direct cost to farmers. The respondents to the survey offered their opinions regarding a number of issues that would help their business viability in a sustainable way while promoting farmer adoption of cover crops and their long-term commitment to the practice

Forest Change in the Driftless Area of the Midwest: From a Preferred to Undesirable Future

In the midwestern and eastern U.S., oaks (Quercus spp.) have been a dominant component of forests for at least the last 10,000 years, providing vital habitat for numerous wildlife and plant species that have adapted to oak forest conditions. However, the current state of these oak systems, in which there has been a general lack of successful oak regeneration and recruitment and an increase in the relative dominance of mesophytic species, may be nearing critical thresholds. If reached, restoring oak systems through natural regeneration and other methods, such as prescribed fire, may become especially challenging if not impossible. An understanding of spatial variation in oak dominance over time can inform and potentially improve the efficacy of intervention strategies. Using Public Land Survey and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) inventories, we evaluated changes in the composition of timberland across ecoregional subsections in the Driftless Area of the Midwest at three time periods (pre-settlement 1800s, 1990s, and 2000s). We identified an overall decrease in oak dominance, and particularly dominance of the white oak (Quercus alba L., Q. macrocarpa Michx., and Q. bicolor Willd.) species group since the presettlement era, and an increase in other eastern soft hardwoods. Within the last 20 years, both the red oak (Q. rubra L., Q. ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill and Q. velutina Lam.) and white oak species groups decreased in dominance, with an increase in hard maple-basswood (A. saccharum Marsh., A. nigra L., and Tilia americana L.) species group dominance, indicating further mesophication of forests in the region. However, we found a notable decrease in hard maple-basswood relative dominance within the small diameter class across most of the regions within the last 10–20 years, with an increase in dominance of other, non-oak, species. Our findings complement qualitative evidence from interviews with natural resource professionals from the region and offer further information on the potential for forest conversion to ‘‘undesirable’’ forest conditions, as identified as a source of concern by some professionals. There was spatial variation in these trends, however, with some pronounced differences across adjacent state boundaries. The variation in forest change across state boundaries suggests the role of state-level socioeconomic and policy factors in affecting forest conditions, and thus the potential for a targeted and timely approach to promoting preferred pathways of change